Contract Callers INC - how should I tackle?

[tenillelg]

Hi all... im looking for suggestions on a collection on my account.

It was for a utility bill for an old address.  I sold my home and left a small balance on my electric bill... and when I found another place a few months later, I had to pay it through the OC in order to move into my new address and have service connected.

Well, that same balance somehow found its way to contract callers INC.  I'll be honest, I was going through alot at the time, and I don't remember getting a dunning letter or anything in regards to this in the mail before I found it on my credit report - but CC claims that they have sent me them.  I have repeatedly disputed the bill as paid in full to the OC to the CRAS and they come back verified every single time.  I have called the electric company and complained, they verify that I paid the bill in full.  I have called contract callers who refutes this information, despite the physical proof of payment reciept of the account from the electric company.  I am not sure what to do about this at this point, been dealing with this collection company since 2016 about this and they are not budging and continue to update? The bill is only $48 but I refuse to pay it to them when it's already paid. Grrrrr...........

[RobertEG]

The key issue is whether or not you paid the delinquent debt before or after the debt collector obtained their collection authority.

If you paid before the debt was referred to or sold to them for collection, then reporting of a collection would be improper, as there was no delinquent debt when they obtained it.

However, if they were either assigned collection authority or purchased the debt prior to when you paid, there was a legitimate delinquent debt, and they had the right to immediately report their collection.  They can report prior to sending dunning notice, so any issue of timellness of dunning notice is not basis for removal of the reported collection.

CRA policy, as stated in their joint credit reporting manual, instructs debt collectors not to delete their collection based on payment of the debt, so dispute to the CRA based on payment of a debt lacks any showing of reporting inaccuracy and can be dismissed.

[Kree]

RobertEG, but if the original creditor took payment, then they did not sell the debt, so any collections would have to report a zero balance correct?  Or if they did sell the debt, they illegally took the payment?

[tenillelg]

Thanks Robert.  They are not even reporting it as paid, but as an open account that remains unpaid.  So am I understanding this right that there is a possiblilty i'd have to pay this bill twice? Once to the OC and once to collections?

[RobertEG]

If the original creditor accepts payment while the debt is under collection assignment to a debt collector, the OC is required to promptly notify their assigned agent that there is no longer a delinquent debt, and thus the collection authority was terminated upon the consumer's payment of the debt. 

The debt collector is then required to promptly update their collection to show closed, $0 balance remaining under collection.

They are not required to delete their collection.

Those events take some time, so the "promptly" standard of FCRA 623(a)(2) can reasonably be a month or more if they have a regular monthly reporting cycle.

[tenillelg]

Oh okay, understood.

Its been about two years.  I'm calling the electric company *again.*